


the definition of 'forever'

by everythingyouever



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-10 18:23:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15954953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingyouever/pseuds/everythingyouever
Summary: Amelia Pond looks on in wonder at the blue, smoking police-box that’s smashed her shed. She’s even more amazed when the doors are thrown open, and a blonde woman emerges in a halo of yellow-orange light.The stranger grimly surveys her surroundings and the state of the box, before shouting back down, “You landed us better the last time you did this!”





	the definition of 'forever'

 

 

 

 

> the definition of forever.

 

 

 

They stand on the surface of an alien world, them two, watching its wildlife drift by. His trenchcoat and her hair sway in the wind.

“How long are you going to stay with me?” He asks.

“Forever,” she says, and they grin.

 

—

 

Amelia Pond looks on in wonder at the blue, smoking police-box that’s smashed her shed. She’s even more amazed when the doors are thrown open, and a blonde woman emerges in a halo of yellow-orange light.

The stranger grimly surveys her surroundings and the state of the box, before shouting back down, “You landed us better the last time you did this!”

Another voice comes up out of the box, but Amelia can’t make out the words.

“We’re on Earth, at least,” the woman continues. “Twenty to twenty-first century, I think.”

That’s when she notices Amelia standing there.

“Oh. Hi!” Mysterious Blonde Woman tries for a smile. “Was this your shed? Sorry.”

Amelia doesn’t care much about the shed. “Are you the police?”

“No-o? Should I be?”

“Your box says police,” Amelia points out.

“Yeah, well,” she laughs. “Blame him.”

‘Him’?

A new stranger pops his head out, dressed in rags and also completely drenched. “It’s not looking too good down there; my regeneration energy really did a number on the console.”

“Why are you dripping wet?” Mysterious Blonde Woman asks.

“Fell into the swimming pool,” he says nonchalantly. His smile is slightly manic.

“Swimming pool?” Amelia and Mysterious Blonde Woman ask at the same time.

“There’s a swimming pool in there?” Amelia is fascinated.

“It’s not a straight shot down to the library.” The strange woman says. “How’d you fall in?”

“I slid around,” Raggedy Man admits.

Amelia tries to connect the dots. “There’s...there’s a swimming pool in the library?”

That’s when the two seem to remember she’s standing there.

 

—

 

A half hour later, Amelia eats ice cream out of the carton while two strangers eat fish fingers and custard from her fridge.

Except they’re not _really_ strangers now, because they’ve introduced themselves. Or, rather, he introduced them.

The Doctor and Rose.

The Doctor’s been acting _very_ weird. But Rose doesn’t seem concerned.

“It’s just part of the process,” Rose explained. “Last time was worse. Be glad he hasn’t collapsed into a coma.”

The Doctor’s also a very picky eater, Amelia learns. He’d gone through half her kitchen before settling on fish fingers and custard.

“Now, this is the stuff,” he announces enthusiastically. Rose lets out a snort.

The Doctor holds a fish finger out to her. “Try some!”

Rose raises an eyebrow, but takes it anyway. She scoops up some custard, sticks it in her mouth, and chews.

“It’s...not horrible,” Rose allows.

The Doctor beams.

Then, he turns to Amelia ( _Amelia_   _Pond, what a wonderful name)_. “Y’know, I’m surprised that we haven’t woken up your parents yet.”

(In another universe, this would be the cue for a story told of missing parents, cracks in the wall, and escaped alien prisoners.)

But she only says, “They’re out for the night, and they’ve left my aunt to watch me.” Amelia makes a face at this.

“She must sleep like the dead,” Rose comments.

That’s when a light flips on.

“Amelia?” A voice calls down. “Is someone down there with you?”

“Time to go!” Rose grabs the crook of the Doctor’s arm, and he grabs hold of his custard.

They bolt for it, Amelia trailing behind them.

“Wait!” Amelia shouts. “Am I gonna see you again?”

Rose and the Doctor look at each other.

He opens his mouth.

“When she’s older,” Rose says firmly. She turns back to Amelia. “We’ll come back when you’re older.”

The Doctor pouts.

“You can do that all like,” Rose says, unaffected. “I’m not getting chased around by aliens with an eight-year-old.”

_“Amelia!”_ A panicked voice shrieks.

“Eleven years, how’s about that?” The Doctor says. “We’ll be back in eleven years. Good. Great! That’s settled. Thanks for the fish custard!”

“And sorry about the shed!” Rose adds.

And they both disappear into the blue box.

Amelia’s aunt runs out of the house and grabs her about the waist. Together, they watch as the blue box hums and warbles and completely disappears from sight. In a wash of awe, Amelia wonders how she’s going to be able to stand waiting eleven whole years to see it again.

 

—

 

“Well, that’s over.” The Doctor says. “I don’t think I’ve ever been chased by somebody’s aunt before."

“It was a first for me, too,” Rose says, dusting off her pants. Her hands are shaking slightly. “We’re gonna have to remember to go back for her, y’know.”

“Of course! We can do it right now. Or, or,” he says, thinking. “I can change clothes. Yeah, I definitely want to change first.”

Rose nods, and lets out a breath. It’ll get easier when he changes clothes. She hopes.

“Be back in a jiff,” the Doctor calls, heading down a smoky hall.

Rose has been through this song and dance before. She knows that it’s still him. She _knows._ But that doesn’t mean her heart’s not hurting. She’s just lost a piece of him she’ll never get back, _allons-y!_ and Converse and pinstripes. It’s the same way she misses _fantastic!_ and leather jackets and black jumpers.

Rose knows it will get better, but for now, she grieves.

Hopefully, a new outfit will help things. Rose is optimistic, and also slightly wary. He’s showed her pictures of some of his past selves’ outfits, and she isn’t sure she wants to be seen in public with him anymore if he decides rainbow coats are back in fashion.

Aaaaand that’s when the TARDIS’s cloister bells start going off.

 

—

 

“Eleven years,” Amy ‘I’m A Kissogram’ Pond fumes. “I waited eleven years! And did you show up? No!”

The Doctor and Rose wince.

“We had to make a fast landing?” Rose offers.

“You’re a whole year late!”

“The TARDIS is feeling a bit under the weather,” the Doctor explains. “It’s not surprising she got the dates a bit off.”

“Uh-huh.” Rose mutters under her breath, who remembers her own missing year in 2005 quite well.

“Anyway,” Amy continues, cooling down, “Why isn’t he wearing a shirt?”

 

—

 

Amy drags them down to the local hospital, where her boyfriend apparently works. This isn’t a social call, but to rub it into his face that her childhood delusions weren’t delusions after all, _Rory._  (Before heading off, they make the Doctor stick on one of Amy’s father’s shirts. It’s plaid, and he complains the entire way there.)

Rory Williams is a nice gent who works as a nurse in a coma ward, and is completely polite about the fact that his girlfriend is insisting they’re a pair of space travelers.

“So, you’re...what, aliens or something?” Rory asks, waiting for the joke’s punchline.

“I’m plain human,” Rose tells him. “The Doctor’s alien, though.”

“Speaking of which,” Amy says, “where’s he gone now?”

Meanwhile, the Doctor had found the hospital’s dressing room and is having the time of his life stealing other people’s clothes.

“Ta-da,” he announces when they find him, throwing out his arms. To Rose: “How do I look?”

She surveys the bow-tie and tweed, chuckles at the elbow patches, and feels relief at the lack of rainbow coloring. Rose truthfully concludes, “You look like you.”

The Doctor beams again, then yelps as the TARDIS key begins to burn a hole through his new jacket.  

 

—

 

When they arrive back at the TARDIS, it’s new for all of them. Rory and Amy go through their “it’s bigger on the inside” experience. The Doctor coos over the shiny, new console.

Rose is melancholic and in wonder at the same time. This new console room is certainly beautiful, but she still misses the old one. Just like her feelings towards the Doctor, she realizes.

The Doctor gives Amy the ‘All of Time and Space’ spiel, and it’s no surprise when she wants to come along.

But Rose has a rule of her own.

“We’re taking him,” she says as she points at Rory.

The Doctor is amazing and kind and wonderful and funny, but he also has the habit of screwing up relationships left and right. She’d rather avoid repeating another Mickey, if possible. Poor Mickey. And poor Martha, too. They’ll have to visit them soon, if only to break the news of the regeneration. Hell, the whole gang, them and Jack and Donna and Sarah Jane, needed to get back together for a day.

But back to the present.

Unlike his prior leather self, this Doctor seems fine with the domestic.

“The more, the merrier,” he shrugs.

This leaves it down to Rory and Amy.

“If you want me to come,” Rory begins awkwardly, still in shock over real live alien spaceships, and Amy nods, also awkwardly.

“I do. I do want you to come.”

_Ah, young love,_ Rose thinks wryly.

And that’s how Amy Pond and Rory Williams become fellow passengers on the TARDIS.

 

—

 

From there, it’s a whirlwind of space whales, World War II Daleks, and other such adventures. After Rose and Amy almost get eaten by Venetian vampires ( _alien fish-people,_ the Doctor corrects), they collectively decide to take a break.

“We can fuel up at Cardiff,” the Doctor tells them.

Amy wrinkles her nose. “All of time and space, and you’re taking us to _Cardiff?_ ”

“Mmm. Fun fact, there’s actually a rift in time and space hanging right over Cardiff. The energy it generates is basically dinner to the TARDIS.” Rose explains. She winks at the Doctor. “And you know who _else_ is in Cardiff…”

The Doctor groans.

“Oh, come on,” Rose smirks. “It can be an excuse to get everyone back together for a night. You can even show off the new bow-tie.”

The Doctor tugs at said bow-tie somewhat nervously. “If you say so.”

While Rory and Amy head back to their room to freshen up, Rose leans against the console. The Doctor steadfastly polishes an already clean bit of handle, looking away.

“You’re gonna have to see them at some point,” Rose says quietly. “Might as well do it now, get it over with.”

She knows this is hard for him. It isn’t normal procedure for the Doctor to come back and visit old friends. Just look at Sarah Jane: it took decades for them to meet again and that was an _accidental_ run-in. When the Doctor leaves someone behind ( _or is left behind himself_ ), he doesn’t let himself look back. Rose wonders if the new regeneration makes it that much harder to reopen that closed door. Maybe.

But at the end of the day, while Rose loves the Doctor, she also loves their friends. She doesn’t want that door to close, and is prepared to jam her foot in the way if she has to.

 

—

 

Eight people squeeze their way into a booth at one of Cardiff’s slightly suspect pubs. But, hey, Jack swears by the chips.

At first, it’s _hellos,_  introductions, and easy chatting. Amy, Rory, Rose, and the Doctor sit at one side, with Jack, Donna, Martha, and Mickey at the other. Jack flirts, Donna continues to criticize the Doctor’s fashion sense, and Martha and Mickey talk about their upcoming wedding plans. When drinks arrive, the Doctor suddenly gets up.

“Forgot my special straw!” he exclaims.

Rose follows him, with a meaningful glance to the others.

“What was that about?” Rory blinks.

“With the Doctor? Who knows?” Jack shrugs.

“Rose probably went with him to make sure he doesn’t run off,” Mickey theorized.

Amy and Rory blanch.

“He...does that?” Amy asks.

“Not unless you’re blonde,” Jack says under his breath. Mickey snickers, Martha nods, and Donna reaches over and smacks him.

Amy, never one to miss an opportunity, takes this as her opening. “Alright. So, what _is_ the deal with those two?”

The four old timers look at each other.

“I’ve been wondering about this since I was eight, people,” Amy says. “Throw me a bone, here.”

“It’s not like any of us have ever seen them snog or anything like that,” Martha tries.

(“I wish,” Jacks sneaks in.)

“He certainly mooned over her enough, back when he was in pinstripes,” Donna pipes in. “I mean, honestly. Say the word ‘Rose’ and he’d turn puppy eyes faster than that.”

“She basically dumped me for him,” Mickey rolls his eyes, albeit good-naturedly.

“When I travelled with them, the tension nearly killed me,” Jack says. “And that was years ago, close to when they first met.”

“Then, they are together?” Rory furrows his brow.

They all shrug.

“Again, who knows?” Donna replies.

(“Wish I did,” Jack laments. Donna smacks him again.)

At this point in the conversation, the conversation’s subjects make an abrupt return. The Doctor holds aloft a bright green, plastic squiggly straw. Rose shakes her head, smiling as she does so. Their left and right hands are entwined.

_Definitely together,_ Amy thinks with surety.

 

—

 

Time passes, and the escapades continue. But Rory and Amy eventually decide to take on a new adventure: parenthood.

“We’ve always wanted kids,” Amy tells the Doctor. “And we think we’re ready to try, now.”

But, this means a break in traveling for them. Only for a little bit, Amy promises. Not for forever.

The Doctor smiles, and nods, and doesn’t believe them.

Rose sees why. First will come the pregnancy. Then, a newborn who’ll constant love, attention, and care. And by the time this child is old enough to be left with a family member or friend for the night, Amy and Rory will probably have changed their minds.

Because as wonderful travelling with the Doctor is, it’s also an enormous risk. Every time you walk out the TARDIS doors, you roll the dice of your life.

Rose has made her choice, and made peace with that choice. She’s never gonna leave him, no matter the cost. But can two parents chance their lives and risk orphaning their child, just for a bit of traveling?

Rose doesn’t think the odds of that are as great.

Back in the TARDIS, just the two of them ( _again_ ), Rose touches his shoulder as he fiddles with the console.

“We can still come back and visit.”

“I know,” The Doctor says. But it’s a rough _I know._

 

—

 

They run, and they run, and they run. Past flesh people, out of nightmare hotels, and through Dalek asylums. They keep running, their only constant being each other and a blue, blue box.

The art of not looking back is one carefully learned.

 

—

 

First, Charles Dickens and spirits. Now, more spirits with added ghost hunters, complete with a scary, dark hallway and a flickering candelabra.

“What is it with us and ghosts?” Rose laughs, sounding better than she feels.

“It’s simply a staple of our relationship. Like chips, or Raxacoricofallapatorius.”

“Or us holding hands,” she squeezes his, tightly and twice.

“Exactly.”

“Us, holding hands and facing ghosts. Not so bad.”

“...Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not holding your hand.”

Cue screaming.

 

—

 

Later, Rose takes their list of ghosts, chips, hand-holding, and Raxacoricofallapatorius, then adds _the end of the world_ to it.

She’s in the TARDIS and he’s standing on the surface of a burning Earth. Rose knows that somewhere, up above, they’re in a space station, watching the whole thing. Except he’s in leather, and she’s just a teenager, and no one’s watching the Earth die because they’re all too busy trying not to burn to death, themselves.

Good times.

When the Doctor gets back in the TARDIS, she throws herself at him and he catches her up in a hug. Maybe it’s the memories. Maybe it’s seeing her planet burn again. Or maybe it’s just that bloody, orange suit that reminds her of hell.

 

—

 

“It's the oldest story in the universe,” The Doctor tells her with a smile when he figures it out. “This one or any other. Boy and girl fall in love, get separated by events—war, politics, accidents in time. She's thrown out of the hex or he's thrown into it. Since then, they've been yearning for each other across time and space. Across _dimensions.”_

Rose shivers.

“This isn't a ghost story, it's a love story.” And this time, it’s really him squeezing her hand.

Tongue in teeth, she winks at him. “Sound familiar to you?”

 

—

 

They get chips afterwards. It’s only right.

 

—

 

“Doctor,” Amy says. “Meet Melody.”

Melody Pond gurgles up at the Doctor, reaching for a stray lock of hair with a chubby fist.

“Oh, no you don’t,” The Doctor says, holding her away. “I know my hair looks lovely, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you wear it for a hat.”

“Huh?” Rory’s eyebrows rise up higher than eyebrows should be.

“He claims to speak baby,” Rose intones from the corner.

“I don’t claim anything,” the Doctor sniffs.

“ _Claims.”_

Melody lets out another happy garble.

“Look, see,” the Doctor says. “She’s agreeing with me.”

Rose groans, and Rory and Amy roll their eyes. The Doctor ignores them, and coos over his newfound ally.

“She’s a very pretty baby,” Rose offers to Amy.

As an only child who never did much babysitting, Rose isn't always...the best around kids. Especially babies. The time she touched her baby self and almost destroyed the world didn’t really help matters.

Contrast that with the Doctor, who’s acting like the proud grandfather he once told her he was.

“Mels is a good kid,” Amy says, clearly proud herself. “Doesn’t keep us up too late, doesn’t cry too much.”

“The cuteness is an added bonus,” Rory puts in. He puts his arm around her shoulder, and they gaze into each other’s eyes with a contented smile.

Bloody hell. It felt like only a month ago little Amelia Pond was toddling after them in her Wellies. Now, she had a kid of her own.

Wasn’t this how the Doctor always said it was? Short little human lives over in a blink?

_Imagine watching that happen to someone you_ —

Rose swallows her fears and doubts and discomforts, and tries to only be happy. The other things can come later ( _will come later_ ).

For now, there is only now.

 

—

 

And on and on, time’s wheel turns.

 

—

 

One day, they will stand on green grass and under blue sky, before a gray tombstone that reads _Amy & Rory Williams, Beloved Husband and Wife. _

One day.

 

—

 

They’re standing in the TARDIS doorway, her and him, watching a supernova explode. Her eye makeup is slightly smudged, his bowtie just a bit askew. In the light of a dying star, she asks him a question.

“How long are you gonna stay with me?”

“Forever,” he says, and she nods like it’s a promise.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> so a lot of this was left intentionally vague. how's rose still with the doctor? did she never end up in the alternate universe or did she get out of it and come back to him?? is jackie still around or is she stuck in au world??? is rose aging or is she somehow immortal now???? i dunno. but what i do know is that donna has her memories and shit, bc donna deserves better dammit.


End file.
